Frequently asked questions #1. What is the difference between a latte and a flat white?

The answer will depend on who you ask but if you ask me, and customers frequently do, a latte, flat white, café au lait, café con leche, etc etc are essentially the same drink in different languages and on different continents: espresso coffee with hot milk.

The difference really comes down to what they are served in and the person making the coffee. At Lantana, flat whites are served in ceramic cups and lattes in tumbler glasses. Both have two shots of coffee but we make the latte on a shorter double shot (a ristretto) which means flat whites are stronger, and, as the name suggests, are made with less foam than a latte. If you want to get a more technical answer from people who know what they are talking about look at toomuchcoffee.

Tim Dunn (ex proprietor of Pushka in Melbourne and now barista in residence at Lantana) shows the difference between Lantana's lattes



and flat whites

More sightings of LaMouth

Coffee supercouple "LaMouth" (aka La Marzocco and Monmouth) have been spotted again in London.

Tucked down a side street behind Whole Foods in Kensington, Kensington Square Kitchen boasts the best coffee in London.

It's a big claim that they don’t quite deliver on as the quality of the coffee varies depending on who is driving La Marzocco.


But it is a very nice spot to sit, read the paper and have brunch.

Until recently, LaMouth was also seen hanging out at Milkbar: the latest venture by the flat white lads, located just around the corner in Bateman St.


It is less frenetic, a little more roomy and better ventilated than flat white with the same laid back feel and consistently brilliant coffee.


Best of all, it is a ten minute walk from the site so its where I now go to get my daily caffeine fix.

Yet just when the LaMouth twosome was looking cosy at Flatwhite and Milkbar, I hear that Monmouth has been dumped for a young, relatively unknown new comer on the coffee scene; Square Mile.

Is this the first sign of overexposure? Could LaMouth be headed for splitsville like Bennifer?

Or can they withstand the pressures of fame and prove the cynics wrong - a la Bradgelina...

We’ll have to wait and see whether they make an appearance at 13 Charlotte Place.

The hottest couple in town

Sexier than Brad and Angelina, better pedigree than Peaches and Pixie Geldof, and doing more good deeds for humanity than Madonna and Guy, La Marzocco and Monmouth could just be the next ‘it’ twosome.

It is a rare thing indeed to have a sublime coffee experience in London and every time it has happened to me, I find myself in the company of Monmouth coffee and a La Marzocco coffee machine. Luckily, no paparazzi have caught on and I've been able to enjoy my coffee in peace.

Here are some of this happy couple's hangouts.

Fernandez and Wells, voted by Time Out as Best Coffee Bar in 2007, is a deli/wine bar/cafe split over two sites located around the corner from each other in Soho on Lexington and Beak St. Both sites are small yet still manage to feel light and uncluttered due to the high ceilings and bare fit out. The clientele are predominantly advertising and media types flitting in and out. You can see that the staff, who are incredibly friendly and unflappable for such a busy and space limited operation, take pride in their offering which is simple but of exceptional quality.


flat white 17 Berwick Street, Soho, run by two young Kiwi guys, gets an incredible amount of publicity for what is essentially a cramped, airless hole in the wall. Many high profile Australian expats living in London are quoted saying that they get their fix for good coffee at flat white. I'd even heard about it before I'd moved to London. The reason is simple - consistently magnificent coffee. I welled up when I saw complimentary newspapers and big jugs of tap water- a little slice of Australian cafe culture in Soho.


Monmouth at Covent Garden is something of a coffee mecca as it is the source of all my good coffee experiences in London. Below a tiny retail shop on Monmouth Street lies Monmouth's headquarters where they've been roasting since the late 70s. I could wile away many hours sitting and watching the baristas perform like well oiled machines.


Their Borough Market store is big by comparison but seating is still limited and I usually end up having a take away or a quick standup coffee at one of the benches mounted onto the wall.



London Review of Books is a very simple cafe attached to a famous bookshop near the British Museum. I sought out this place because a friend told me the coffee was good. I then discovered that it is managed by one of the regulars that I'm friendly with at Tom's - a fellow Australian called Terri. I'm starting to find that London is a small town in many ways too.